The teacher had already been the victim of homophobic taunts from the pair – but the episode saw Finn go to new lengths to keep John-Paul from calling the police as he overpowered him before carrying out the brutal assault.

Although the actual rape itself was not shown on the episode – which instead cut away to the sounds of the school choir rehearsing – the implication was enough to shock viewers, who took to Twitter to make their feelings known.

‘Finn does that to John Paul in hollyoaks! Actually made me feel sick,’ commented one viewer.

Finn was at the centre of the controversial storyline as he assaulted the teacher (Picture: E4)

Another added: ‘#Hollyoaks just took Finn/John Paul storyline too far. Struggling with sexuality is 1 thing,bringing rape into it is something else. #wrong.’

Forthcoming episodes will focus on the aftermath of the rape as John Paul attempts to come to terms with what has happened to him.

Sutton recently told BBC Manchester: ‘Men in this country have a stiff upper lip, so I wanted to get across that John Paul will be very brave and stoic. He’s got a baby son and wants to be strong for him.

He added: ‘There’s a brave, hard shell but inside he’s falling apart. That’s what I’ve been playing in the month and a half since we filmed the rape.’

The dramatic episode also saw Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter) facing more drama as she was charged with the murder of Calvin Valentine.

For those playing catch-up, it will be screened on Channel 4 at 6.30pm on Thursday night followed by the next episode on E4 at 7pm.